Union Strong billboard, bus campaign to reach millions of people

By DEBORAH A. MILES

With the attack on labor unions, especially from organizations such as New Choice NY, on the upswing, PEF is not only heightening its member engagement campaign, but taking part in a statewide campaign to let the public know that state employees are proud to be “Union Strong.”

“There are billboards in Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo that went up in November and will run through January,” Spence said. “This will create public awareness that state unions are still standing together.

“When PEF partnered with other unions in 2017 to defeat the passage of a constitutional convention, it was a major victory. That accomplishment demonstrated what we can achieve collectively. It was about having a strong message and letting the voters hear that message.

“This billboard and bus campaign, of which PEF is proud to be a part, will send the message to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the state, especially during the busy holiday travel season. The message will be clear that New Yorkers are Union Strong, and willing to fight for the rights of labor. We must keep the labor movement alive and thriving for today and into the future. This is a step in that direction.”

Celebrating unity

Mario Cilento, president of the state AFL-CIO, said, “While PEF members have their own union, they are also a part of the larger labor movement, the New York State AFL-CIO, the strongest and most successful statewide labor movement in the country.

“We created the Union Strong campaign to celebrate the strength and unity of our more than 2 million union members throughout the state. Many of our 3,000 unions have adopted the Union Strong label and have made it their own by adding their union logo, as PEF has done.

“The billboard and bus campaign is just one more way we are letting our members, and the general public, know the real value of belonging to a union. I applaud PEF for showing its solidarity and for being a part of this effort. We should all wear the Union Strong label with pride, to show the strength and amplify the voice of working men and women across all sectors of the labor movement,” Cilento said.

Visibility

One of the Albany-based digital billboards has total weekly impressions of 252,628, targeting traffic heading south on I-787 into downtown Albany. The other billboard targets traffic heading into the Capital, and is close to the expressway for maximum exposure, with weekly impressions of 312,811.

The Buffalo board has the highest number of weekly impressions, 409,739, and is located at the Kensington Expressway.

On I-490 East in Rochester, the digital billboard has 257,829 weekly impressions. And the Syracuse digital board, at I-88 at Butternut, has 212,687.

The Northway Express buses travel to and from Northern Saratoga County to Albany throughout the day. The ad is either on the side or rear of the buses. They will run from mid-November to mid-January.